Takano Family History

Japanese: from a common place name meaning ‘high field’. The surname is found mostly in eastern Japan and is listed in the Shinsen shojiroku. Alternate readings found in western Japan are Kono and Koya, the latter being taken from the name of the famed mountain in Kii (now Wakayama prefecture), where the monk Kukai (774–835) built a monastery, the Buddhist teachings of which had a profound effect on Japanese civilization.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press